RIP Richard Matheson, 1926-2013

It wasn't long ago at all that we grieved the loss of Iain Banks and now another amazing author, Richard Matheson, has joined him, passing away on Sunday at 87 years of age.

The science fiction writer was best known for I Am Legend, but many of his novels moved on to become movies, such as The Shrinking Man, A Stir of Echoes, and What Dreams May Come. Many may remember the first time they saw his work on the Twilight Zone, at least it was my first experience with his storytelling, where he wrote Nightmare at 20,000 Feet starring William Shatner.
A member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, and winner of the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award and World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award, he was respected by many of his colleagues. Stephen King has said of Matheson that he was "the author that influenced me most as a writer," and Ray Bradburry said he is "one of the most important writers of the 20th century."

His daughter wrote of his passing:

My beloved father passed away yesterday at home surrounded by the
people and things he loved...he was funny, brilliant, loving, generous,
kind, creative, and the most wonderful father ever...I miss you and
love you forever Pop and I know you are now happy and healthy in a
beautiful place full of love and joy you always knew was there...